This invention relates to sailboats, and, more particularly, to an outhaul boom end part for a sailboard boom assembly.
The boom assembly of a sailboard typically includes a pair of elongated tubular booms which extend along opposite sides of the sail, an inhaul boom end part which is attached to the mast, and an outhaul boom end part which cooperates with an outhaul line for tensioning the sail.
The outhaul line is conventionally secured by cleats which are mounted on the booms U.S. Pat. No. 3,574,900 describes cleats which are commonly used. These cleats are expensive, are subject to breaking, and protrude from the booms so as to interfere with some motions of the boom and movement of the sailor's hands along the boom. The cleat illustrated in FIGS. 5-10 of the patent includes a bridge, and the outhaul line must be carefully threaded through the bridge.
The conventional outhaul cleating arrangement positions the cleat on the boom in a location that is not parallel with the direction of force required for tensioning the outhaul line. This can make cleating more difficult. Removal of the line from the boom necessitates uncleating the two ends of the line and lifting an intermediate loop of the line up and away from a boom end sheave. The conventional arrangement requires threading of the line through the sheaves and cleat bridges on each use.